Chicago Theological enrolls a diverse student population representing more than 40 different faith traditions, perspectives and denominations, and houses the Center for the Study of Black Faith and Life (CSBFL), the Center for Jewish, Christian, & Islamic Studies (JCIS), the Center for the Study of Korean Christianity (CSKC), and the LGBTQ Religious Studies Center. CTS students hold academic reciprocity with the University of Chicago, the University of Chicago Divinity School, and with member schools of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools consortium.

The first in many fields, CTS remains the first theological school to introduce the field education experience into a seminary curriculum,[3] the first to create a distinct Department of Christian Sociology in an American theological school,[4] the first seminary to award a degree in divinity to a woman in the US (Florence Fensham, 1902),[5] the first seminary in the US to award the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree for his activism in the Civil Rights movement,[6] the first to elect an African American to lead a predominantly white theological school (C. Shelby Rooks, 1974 to 1984),[7] and the first free-standing Protestant seminary to endow a chair in Jewish Studies.[8]

Chicago Theological Seminary is the oldest institution of higher education in Chicago, having been established in 1855. Unintimidated by controversy, the seminary had a distinguished century-long record of setting trends in church life and leadership.

The very first CTS curriculum in 1855 provided for the scattering of students among congregations and missions across the Midwest. Students were encouraged to learn first hand the facts of community life and church needs in a restless, experimental culture. Although such a practice was unknown at that time, this curriculum was the beginning of the first field education component ever introduced into seminary education. Field education is now a part of every accredited professional theological degree program.

Because of a deeply held conviction that training for ministry needed to combine the study of Christian faith and the world of secular knowledge and action, during President Ozora Davis' tenure in 1900s, CTS moved to the vicinity of the University of Chicago. Under his leadership the magnificent buildings of the seminary were financed and constructed, and the relationship with the University firmly established.

After Florence Fensham earned the first seminary degree awarded to a woman, the Congregational Training School for Women was founded at the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1909 as an opportunity to provide Congregational women with advanced educational training. The school continued its mission until it was subsumed into the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1926. CTS alum Florence Fensham was the first dean, succeeded by Agnes M. Taylor and Margaret M. Taylor, when Dean Fensham died unexpectedly in 1912. The Chicago Theological Seminary decided to allow full acceptance of women to its programs in 1926, thereby eliminating the need for a separate institution for women.

In 1965 CTS launched a Doctorate of Religion program, one of the first professional doctorates in ministry. As standards for the professional doctorate were established by the Association of Theological Schools, the Seminary became one of the initial group of six schools to have fully accredited programs of study for the Doctor of Ministry degree.

Among schools of theological education, the Chicago Theological Seminary is especially welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex concerns and is listed as an officially "Open and Affirming" institution of the United Church of Christ by the UCC Coalition for GLBT Concerns. The seminary has many openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, staff and faculty; several of its faculty members have published books and articles regarding religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The institution offers an annual Gilberto Castaneda scholarship award for outstanding GLBT students. It is home to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Religious Archives Network. Students are invited to participate in the social activities of the Heyward Boswell Society. In 2006 CTS launched the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) Religious Studies Center (Queer Center), a grant-funded research program.[9][10]

Founded in 2009, the Center for Jewish, Christian and Islamic Studies is the only American program of its kind based in a free-standing theological seminary. Students in the Theology, Ethics and Human Sciences concentration enjoy resources appropriate to experientially and theoretically integrate theology with the human sciences.

The original buildings were designed by Herbert Riddle and built between 1923 and 1928. Riddle was the architect for Mather Tower in the Loop, as well as many buildings in New York. The original CTS building complex was a harmonious, organic, integrated work of art, including stained glass windows, medieval style groin vaulting, furniture, lighting fixtures, ceramic ornament and tile work, architectural relics – all of the highest quality of its day.

The seminary, which was for decades located at 5757 South University Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago, during the 2011/2012 academic year moved to 1407 East 60th Street, also in Hyde Park. The building designed by Riddle that had served as a seminary for decades became home to the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago and the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics.

Construction of the new $30,000,000 CTS facility is a partnership between the University of Chicago and the Chicago Theological Seminary.[14] In May 2008, the University of Chicago Board of Trustees Executive Committee authorized the purchase of two CTS buildings and an adjacent parking lot. Additionally, the University of Chicago agreed to construct a new seminary building at 60th Street and Dorchester Avenue. The seminary’s new building, designed with staunch commitments to environmental sustainability, is located at 1407 E. 60th Street, is LEED Gold-certified and fully ADA accessible.[15] As of 2013, the building project has acquired numerous private and public funds.[16]

The Robinson & Janet Lapp Learning Commons, centrally located on the third floor of CTS's new building, is a working theological collection of over 45,000 volumes. The library also receives over 700 periodicals and subscribes to multiple databases. The collection is strong in the theological subject areas of Bible, Church history and theology. Special holdings include the Boisen Collection in psychology and personality science, and the Campbell Morgan Collection named for the Rev. G. Campbell Morgan. The collection contains his sermons, writings, books, newspaper clips, lecture notes, photographs, and other archival materials. Particular fields of note also include African American religion and spirituality, women's studies, LGBT/queer studies, and Jewish and Christian studies.

CTS students also have access to the University of Chicago Library system, the 11th largest library collection in the United States. Through special arrangement, CTS students and faculty can utilize this resource in person.[17]

Franklin Fisk (1888-1901), one of the most widely known theologians and educators of the West, according to the New York Times,[18]Yale University alumni and valedictorian, and first president of Chicago Theological Seminary.

Arthur E. Holt—Author, professor, founder of the Merom Institute (renamed the Merom Conference Center),[32] Chairman of the department of social ethics in the University of Chicago Divinity School, regional consultant for the India, Burma, and Ceylon foreign work survey of the YMCA and YWCA, visiting professor at the Tata School of Social Service, India 1936-1937.[33]

André LaCocque—Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Chicago Theological Seminary, colleague of and co-author with Paul Ricœur, winner of the Gordon J. Laing Award, prolific author, founder of the Center for Jewish, Christian and Islamic Studies at CTS.[35]

Rabbi Herman Schaalman—Activist, rabbi, scholar, son of Dachau concentration camp survivor, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Emanuel, past president of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, honoree of the Herman Schaalman Chair of Jewish Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary.[36][37]

Florence Amanda Fensham— First woman in the US awarded a degree from a seminary (CTS), founder and dean of the Congregational Training School for Women, missionary, teacher, and activist Protestant laywoman[38] (BD, 1902)

John W. de Gruchy—Anti-Apartheid leader, Karl Barth Prize award recipient, former Robert Selby Taylor Professor of Christian Studies at University of Cape Town, and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch.[39]

Philo Carpenter—Illinois' first pharmacist, managing director of the Chicago Bible Society, abolitionist, school board member, board of health member, organizer of the Relief and Aid Society, and co-organizer of American Anti-Slavery Society.

Otis Moss III—Pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ (D.Min., 2012)